wagymnasticsfandomcom-20200222-history
Main:2012 London Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad or the London 2012 Olympic Games, took place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. London became the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. The artistic gymnastics events were held at the North Greenwich Arena on July 28–August 7. Format of Competition The competition format was the same as the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. All participating gymnasts, including those who were not part of a team, participated in a qualification round. The results of this competition determined which teams and individuals participated in the remaining competitions, which included: *The team competition, in which the eight highest scoring teams from qualifications competed. Each team of five gymnasts could only have three gymnasts perform on each apparatus, and all three scores counted toward the team total. *The all-around competition, in which only the twenty-four highest scoring individuals in the all-around competed. Each country was limited to only two gymnasts in the all-around final. *The event finals, in which the eight highest scoring individuals on each apparatus competed. Each country was limited to two gymnasts in each apparatus final. This was also the first Olympics in which each team could only have five members instead of the usual six. Competition Schedule Results Notable Moments *Canada made the team final for the first time in Olympic history. They placed fifth. *The United States won the team gold medal for the first time since the Magnificent 7 at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. This team was nicknamed the "Fierce Five". *USA's Gabby Douglas became the third straight American gymnast to win the all-around. Douglas is also the fourth American to win the all-around as well as the first person of color to win the all-around, the first African-American gymnast to win, and the first American to win both team gold and all-around gold medals at the same Olympics. She is the only Olympic all-around champion to not win a medal in event finals. *Russia's Aliya Mustafina became the second Russian gymnast to win Olympic gold on uneven bars, following Svetlana Khorkina. *Great Britain's Beth Tweddle became the first female British gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal (bronze on the uneven bars). *China's Deng Linlin became the second Chinese gymnast to win Olympic gold on balance beam, following Liu Xuan. *USA's Aly Raisman became the first American to win an Olympic gold on floor. *USA's Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman join Shannon Miller as the only American gymnasts to win two gold medals in a single Olympics. *The highest recorded score was a 16.233, by McKayla Maroney on vault during the team final. Controversies *Criticism arose about the FIG's "two per country" rule after USA's Jordyn Wieber, 2011 World All-Around Champion, was the fourth-highest placing gymnast in the preliminary all-around, but did not advance to the final due to her teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas qualifying ahead of her. The same occurred to Russia's Anastasia Grishina, Great Britain's Jennifer Pinches, and China's Yao Jinnan. *In the all-around competition, there was originally a tie for the bronze medal between Russia's Aliya Mustafina and USA's Aly Raisman. However, a tie breaker was induced and the bronze was awarded to Mustafina. *In the vault event final, USA's McKayla Maroney was the favorite for the gold, but fell on her second vault. She ended up winning silver behind Romania's Sandra Izbasa. This was similar to the vault event final in Beijing four years previously, when China's Cheng Fei fell on her second vault and still medaled. *In the balance beam event final, USA's Aly Raisman originally scored a 14.966, which placed her in fourth. Her coach, Mihai Brestyan, filed a inquiry about her score. Her appeal was accepted and her score was adjusted to a 15.066. She, at first, ended up tying for the bronze with Romania's Catalina Ponor, but after a tie breaker was induced, Raisman was awarded the bronze. *There was another tie breaker for bronze in the floor exercise event final between Russia's Aliya Mustafina and Italy's Vanessa Ferrari, with the bronze being awarded to Mustafina. Medal Count